I am tendering my resignation to ForbesWoman. I cannot continue to work in a sexually hostile environment that does not respect my need to contribute my unique skills towards the greater good while developing my career and work/life balance. It didn’t help that Spearhead commentator “Zorro” mocked me mercilessly in front of my co-colleagues after I submitted the gender-studies report that I had worked so hard on, even during my own boxed wine time. After I regained my composure I stumbled back to ForbesWoman and opened my trench-coat for them with a few feeble posts, but the thrill was gone.
Finally, the last straw. That Victoria Pynchon lady, who’s been at Encorpera for decades, and not about to let some new blood show up and steal the limelight she has been aggressively cultivating, viciously deleted my thoughtful comment in reply to her latest outrage Fragile Manhood Requires First-Rate Negotiation Skills. I had put a lot of effort into that comment and felt so humiliated when she denied my voice by coldly removing my submission.
She writes about negotiating tactics for women, a worthy topic really as everyone should know the basic negotiating scams that will get you kneecapped while you still have a pleasant smile on your face. But, like the rest of the ForbesWoman hen house, advice for women is stitched to a framework of “how things ought to be” and “studies have shown” while trumpeting what women really want, need, and should be provided for because they are just as, no, more than, capable as men. But no matter the final gender gotterdammerung , the business world will always be dog-eat-dog; a shark tank. Everyone thinks it their patriotic duty to swindle you. Advice to females that fly in the face of this reality is only fattening them for the kill.
And Victoria wants to lecture women on how to negotiate with men, with a fundamental assumption about men’s vestigial masculinity and fragile, feminized egos. Rather than blindly accept the study about men getting pegged that show them to have a sensitive, fragile grip on their masculinity, she would do well to ask men for feedback on what it is like to deal with women now that Encorpera is over 50% female. You have to negotiate everything or face a full on (though subtle and quiet, as if with stick up ass) shit storm.
She begins
“There go those social psychologists again, confirming beliefs we already held. This time, it’s about the fragility of masculinity and the lengths to which men will go to protect it….
…how can we use this knowledge to help us better negotiate with men?”
Later, in reply to a reader’s agreeable comment :
“I have to frankly admit that I haven’t a clue what “masculinity” means.
I like smart. I like funny. I like an individual who is capable of self-reflection and self-correction. I respect anyone with the guts to admit error readily, apologize and make it better and I respect greatly those men who have learned a broader range of feeling states than horny and angry.
So, I don’t know. What IS masculinity anyway? Having a hunting dog? Pitching a tent? Rafting a Class IV river? Most women can and do all of these things. Raw physical strength seems to be the only significant difference between us when it comes to getting s*** done and it’s not uncommon for some women to possess more physical strength than men.
Most of the ballyhooed masculine traits seem to me to be pretty passé. Not backing down. Providing physical protection for people (not women, people) who are weaker than they are. Knowing how car engines work and what to do when the fail. Changing flat tires. I don’t think most men want to be known for these abilities.
I ready willing and able to be enlightened. Enlighten me!”
Well I tried to show her the light :
elmer 1 minute ago
Why bother trying to enlighten such a flaming sexist bigot?
Your essay and comments are full of sneering condescension towards men.
If men are so fragile, why is there such a huge industry proffering cosmetics and push-up bras to women? I know your answer : “men and society” are forcing you to do it.
There is so much BS here (and you will delete my comment anyway, because you are a tough, strong woman who can take it like a man) that it hardly warrants a response. But your claim that “it is not uncommon” for women to be stronger than men really takes the cake. I am 55 years old and can still slap the crap out of 99% of women. About the only men I can do that to are near my age and moving just as slowly.
And stop with the tiresome lists of what you like in a man. “Smart, funny, ready to apologize”. Anyone reading such tripe knows that the qualities you claim to desire are the exact opposite of what women find attractive in men. They want a brute to dominate and control them and hate to the depths of their soul any male who exhibits feminine tendencies
You will never know Victoria. Hope you get plenty of page views for your ugly, hateful essay proclaiming your superiority to those sissified males.
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